115 – EPILEPTIC PROPHET – THE FINAL PART 7 – FAMOUS CASES & INTERVIEWS – DISCUSSION & SUMMARY
This episode is the 7th and final installment in the series ‘The Epileptic Prophet’ in which Abdullah Gondal and I tackle the question of Muhammad’s mental health and possible epilepsy. Our aim is to provide an alternative explanation to Muhammad’s supposed prophethood from a neurological perspective. In this episode, we go through famous cases and interviews of people with epilepsy.
We kicked off the episode by discussing Dr. Karen Armstrong, a British author and distinguished academic who is also an epileptic. We presented an excerpt from an interview she had with Oprah Winfrey in which she explained her struggles before she was diagnosed with epilepsy. She also explained the symptoms that she experienced during seizures.
Gondal and I went on to present various cases of famous people from different walks of life who have enjoyed success in their respective fields. Some of the famous army leaders and politicians we discussed include Franklin Delano Roosevelt and Theodore Roosevelt Jr.(both former US presidents), Joan of the Arc, Laura Sandys and Paul Maynard (both members of the British Parliament), and Julius Caesar. We also discussed cases of people in the arts and entertainment industry who are very successful inspite of epilepsy including Lil Wayne, Van Gogh, and Prince. We also discussed Fyodor Dostoevsky’s case and its parallels to the story of Muhammad.
The main aim of this episode was to destigmatize epilepsy and show people that epileptics can enjoy high levels of success in life if epilepsy is managed and treated. We wrapped up the show by giving a recap of the main arguments that we raised throughout the series.
We hope you will enjoy this episode and share the series with your friends.
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Full Series Playlist: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLBhSsGcWqsZ7Z–bKEjzqHlRyD6IhN25d
Timestamps:
0:00 Introductions
1:52 Famous cases of epileptic patients – Karen Armstrong
11:55 Alyssa D’AMico – Epileptic poet
13:06 Socrates had epilepsy?
15:10 Caligula (Gaius Caesar) – Roman emperor
16:24 Prince Erik
17:22 Joe Doyle – British politician.
19:00 Neil Abercrombie – Governor of Hawaii (2010 – 2014)
21:28 Tony Coelho – Lawyer to priest to congressman
30:10 Chief Justice John Roberts
32:46 Laura Sandys – British member of parliament
37:12 Paul Maynard
39:19 Elliott Roosevelt, Franklin Delano Roosevelt (Former US president), Theodore Roosevelt Jr.(Former US president)
44:46 Lil Wayne
48:28 Prince – a famous musician/music writer-actor
50:33 Edward Lear
52:08 Alfred Lord Tennyson – A genius poet.
53:36 Did Julius Caesar suffer from epilepsy
54:35 Pope Pius IX
55:40 George Inness
56:14 Edgar Allan Poe – Poet and storyteller
*57:18 Gustav Flaubert
1:00:18 Machado De Assis
1:02:09 Kumagusu Minakata – Japanese genius devoted to natural history and folklore.
1:03:35 John Nash – founder of game theory,
1:04:11 Emperor Napoleon Bonaparte. Farid’s strawman.
1:17:24 Emperor Michael IV, Paphlagonia
1:18:04 Joan of Arc
1:22:15 Mirza Ghulam Ahmed – Founder of the Ahmadi Islamic sect.
1:27:20 Richard Doddridge Blackmore
1:28:06 Fyodor Dostoevsky’s case and its parallels to the story of Muhammad
1:32:10 Van Gogh, Lorna Byrne
1:38:32 Ron Hubbard – hypergraphia.
1:39:50 St. Birgitta case
1:43:58 Lies of Dr. Hassan Aziz – Did Muhammad have epilepsy?
1:49:26 The role of psychotic disorders in religious history considered.
1:51:00 A quick summary of the stream
1:53:49 Gondal’s future plans
1:59:46 Channel comments
2:01:22 Responding to comments – Is this series the final nail in the coffin for Islam?
2:03:03 Recap of the series
2:07:30 Is there a clear distinction between demonic possession and psychological problems?
2:16:40 Final remarks
List of Resources:
- Karen Armstrong – https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Karen_Armstrong
- Socrates had epilepsy? – https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/j.1528-1167.2006.00481.x
- Caligula (Roman Emperor) – https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Suetonius/12Caesars/Caligula*.html#ref85
- Prince Erik – https://www.kungahuset.se/royalcourt/royalfamily/thebernadottedynasty/princeerik.4.164e81b015607465dc12f32.html
- John Doyle (British Politician)
https://www.irishtimes.com/news/outstanding-fine-gael-politician-and-lord-mayor-of-dublin-1.720009
- Neil Abercrombie (Governor for Hawaii 2010 – 2014) – https://www.congress.gov/congressional-record/2006/12/08/extensions-of-remarks-section/article/E2227-3
- Tony Coelho (Lawyer to Priest to Congressman) – https://www.epilepsy.com/article/2018/7/tony-coelho-28th-anniversary-ada
- John Roberts (Current US Supreme Court Chief Justice) – https://abcnews.go.com/Health/Healthday/story?id=4508129&page=1
https://sudep.org/article/sudep-action-welcomes-commitment
https://www.grassrootdiplomat.org/news/laura-sandys-mp-recognised-for-national-epilepsy-awareness
- Paul Maynard (Member of British Parliament) – https://www.epilepsy.org.uk/my-story/paul-member-parliament-mp-parliament-conservative-party
- Elliott Roosevelt – https://www.nps.gov/people/elliott-roosevelt.htm
- Franklin Delano Roosevelt (Former US President)- https://n.neurology.org/content/76/7/668.short
- Roosevelt (Former US President) – https://www.healthline.com/health/celebrities-epilepsy
https://www.epilepsy.com/connect/forums/epilepsy-friends-com-general-discussi on/epilepsy-hall-fame
https://www.mountsinai.org/care/neurology/services/epilepsy-program/life-epilepsy
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-music-lilwayne-idUSKCN1BF0E4
https://www.bbc.com/news/newsbeat-41145110
https://www.healthdigest.com/437712/lil-waynes-history-with-epilepsy-explained/
16. Prince (Famous musician) www.theguardian.com/music/2009/apr/29/prince-born-epileptic
https://www.medicaldaily.com/prince-rogers-nelson-epilepsy-seizure-disorder-creative-thinking-383197
17. Edward Lear – https://en-academic.com/dic.nsf/enwiki/6141
18. Alfred Lord Tennyson (A genius poet) – https://victorianweb.org/authors/tennyson/tennybio.html
19. Julius Caesar – https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S152550500400160X
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S1878875015007895
20. Pope Pius IX – https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0025619611611002
21. Gorge Inness – https://www.cummermuseum.org/visit/art/permanent-collection/perugia
https://collections.dma.org/essay/7Mga1gJD
https://americanart.si.edu/artist/george-inness-2392
22. Edgar Allan Poe – https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamaneurology/article-abstract/775062
23. Gustav Flaubert – https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S1525505007001527
24. Machado de Assis – https://www.scielo.br/j/anp/a/9TptpYV4cqwDVCJK9xyZRDb/?format=pdf&lang=en
https://www.karger.com/Article/Abstract/490685
25. Kamagasu Minakata – https://n.neurology.org/content/50/5/1373.short
26. Emperor Napoleon Bonaparte – https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S1525505003002695
Case report 1 Epilepsy and Behavior 4 (2003) p793 -796
27. Emperor Michael IV , Paphlagon – https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/j.1528-1157.2000.tb00264.x
28. Joan of the Arc – https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/j.1528-1157.1991.tb05537.x
29. Mirza Ghulam Ahmed (Founder of the Ahmadi Islamic Sect) – The Philosophy of Divine Revelation
30. Richard Doddridge Blackmore –
https://victorianweb.org/authors/blackmore/bio1.html
https://wordsworth-editions.com/author/blackmore-r.d
http://www.twickenham-museum.org.uk/detail.php?aid=41&cid=7&ctid=1
31.Fyodor Dostoevsky – https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S1525505010003458
Fyodor Dostoevsky – the Idiot p299
32. Van Gogh – Seized by Eve LaPlante
33. Lorna Byrne – https://lornabyrne.com/about-lorna-byrne/
34. Ron HUbbard – http://lermanet.org/scientologynews/sfchronicle-hubbard-042451.html
https://www.guinnessworldrecords.com/world-records/most-published-works-by-one-author
35. St Birgitta – https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1059131103001602
36. A Differential Diagnosis of the Inspirational spells of Muhammad the Prophet of Islam – https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/793843/
37. Genius and epilepsy – https://www.infona.pl/resource/bwmeta1.element.psjd-e9bafad0-bd47-4e69-9171-f1b30b71f20d
38. Sudden religious conversions in temporal lobe epilepsy – https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/the-british-journal-of-psychiatry
/article/abs/sudden-religious-conversions-in-temporal-lobe-epilepsy
/62DAE53DDACF8DDF9A7FF8FFF3AEE11A
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